


Panic Attack

by Kittyhawk



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Phobias
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-19
Updated: 2016-03-19
Packaged: 2018-05-27 17:01:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6292573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittyhawk/pseuds/Kittyhawk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm not happy with how this turned out, even though I listened to Panic Attack by Dream Theater for inspiration while writing to get into the right mood.</p></blockquote>





	Panic Attack

The door to her cabin swished open and Nick stepped inside, exhausted and looking forward to a hot shower. She began undoing the hair pins that held her unruly mane in check then pulled out the hairband and lay them on her desk, when a dark shadow scuttled by, just at the edge of her vision.

She stepped slowly away from the desk, her eyes frantically searching the area the shadow had disappeared to.

_There._

Her mouth went dry when she spotted a dark shadow under her desk, and she backed away to the opposite wall, keeping her eyes trained on the spider.

_How in the world had it gotten into her cabin?_

She had to go to her desk; she had reports to write, and they were a pain to do on her omnitool. But, if she went closer it might move. It might scurry away and hide behind her bed. Or even worse, it could run _towards_ her.

On Noveria she had managed to hide her fear of spiders - _creepy crawlies_ \- mainly because she was a) fully armored, and b) armed. Nobody found it strange that she shot Rachni Workers; they were being attacked after all.

And today had been filled with more Rachni.

But now? Now she was petrified. She couldn’t shoot it, and if she threw something she would probably miss and just scare it off.

Nick jumped when the spider moved unexpectedly, her heart hammering in her throat, and she had to force herself to slowly reached out to open the bulkhead and back out of her cabin.

“Skipper, you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Ashley asked, sitting next to Kaidan with an almost empty tray in front of her.

Nick swallowed. She had hoped to find Kaidan alone. “I just have to grab a bite. I had a dizzy spell after getting up too fast,” she lied. Kaidan narrowed his eyes, but to her relief the gunnery chief didn’t comment any further, but stood up, her tray nearly empty.

“You can have my seat, Skipper. I have to get back to my duties,” Ashley informed her. Then she turned to Kaidan, and winked. “Enjoy your meal, LT.”

Shepard sat down next to Kaidan and absentmindedly took a roll off of his tray and dipped it into gravy.

“Something I can do for you, Shepard?” her lieutenant observed, raising an eyebrow. “You didn’t have a dizzy spell, did you?”

She hesitated, and looked around. They were alone. Leaning a little closer to him she whispered, “There’s a spider in my cabin.”

“There’s a spider?” Kaidan echoed. She nodded miserably. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of - .” He stopped short when he caught the haunted look on her face. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Thank you, Kaidan. Just two things. Kill it, and please don’t tell anybody about this.” Her tone was pleading.

“No problem, Shepard.” His smile was warm and reassuring, and she slowly relaxed.

 

**Three years later**

The elevator doors and Nick stepped out, unfastening the release catches of her vambraces as she crossed the few steps to her cabin door. It slid open revealing an empty cabin. It seemed Kaidan was feeling better. He’d had to remain aboard the Normandy during today’s mission due to a migraine, but there was no sign of him now.

“EDI? Where is Kaidan?” She asked as she crossed through the cabin and dropped her gauntlets and vambraces on the bed.

“ _Major Alenko is in the mess together with Garrus, Lieutenant Vega and Lieutenant Cortez_ ,” came the instant reply. “ _Should I inform him you are looking for him, Shepard?_ ”

“No, I was just wondering,” Nick answered, undoing the next buckles. She was just about to pull off her pauldrons when a spider emerged from a crack and scuttled across the floor. Nick jumped back with a yelp, grabbed the first piece of armor, and threw it at the arachnid.

It missed.

Her heart raced and she gasped for air as adrenaline surged through her veins, trying to calm herself. She wanted to flee, but she was frozen to one spot, her legs disobeying her, suddenly feeling numb.

_It’s just a spider. It’s just a spider. Dammit, Shepard, you’re an N7, move!_

“ _Shepard, has something happened? Your vitals are irregular_ .” EDI’s voice snapped her back to reality. “ _I can inform the Major that you are unwell._ ”

“No! No … I’m fine. I’ll get him myself,” Nick responded quickly, her eyes roaming the room for the spider. It was nowhere to be seen.

_Shit._

She went down to the mess and heard Garrus’ voice followed by the sound of laughter. Rounding the corner she stopped short as four sets of eyes looked up, surprised by her appearance.

“Kaidan?” Nick gestured up towards their cabin. “There’s a … There’s a spider,” she blurted out, heat burning on her cheeks. “It’s … huge.”

“You’re kidding, right, Shepard?” Garrus asked, his two-toned voice tinged with disbelief.

James coughed, choking on his coffee when he tried to avoid spitting it across the table. “What? Lola, are you serious? You release the Rachni on the galaxy, but you’re afraid of _spiders_?”

“Afraid doesn’t even come close, Lieutenant. Terrified is the word you’re looking for.” Kaidan let them know, pushing back his plate and walking her way.

She cast him a nasty glare. “Alenko, if you don’t want to sleep on the couch or back down here, I suggest you get your sweet ass up there and get rid of that creepy, crawly _thing_. And don’t forget: Kill it -  best of all, with fire!”

Kaidan stopped in front of her, a small smile playing on his lips as he gently ran a thumb along her jaw. “I don’t think fire is a good idea. I can offer to kill it with biotics, though.”

“Hey Major, maybe you should show her the dead body as proof?” James suggested.

Her response was quick as lightning as she spun around to look at the lieutenant. “ _No!_ ”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I'm not happy with how this turned out, even though I listened to Panic Attack by Dream Theater for inspiration while writing to get into the right mood.


End file.
